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A spokeswoman from the BBC told the newspaper the “significant reductions in its headcount as part of overall efficiency savings” had resulted in savings of £2.7bn.

The total figure paid out to former staff, of £276,833,465, is said to include some money awarded in lieu of holiday owed.

The Guardian found the highest costs in redundancies came between March 2011 and February 2012, when £66.4m was paid out.

The figure was almost match in 2006-7, when £63.81m was given to redundant staff as a result of job cuts.

The newspaper found the safest period for BBC staff was between 2009 and 2010, when just £22.86m was paid out.

A BBC spokeswoman has said the median redundancy payment to staff, £35,161, was less than the mean of £46,200.

A BBC statement said: "Since 2005, the BBC has made significant reductions in its headcount as part of overall efficiency savings. While this has necessitated some one-off redundancy costs, this is outweighed by the cumulative savings achieved over this period of £2.7bn."